eickemeyer



R. EIOKBMEYER. HAT FELTING MACHINE.

Patented Nov. 27

I W A g m N. PETERS, Pbolwukhngnphcn Washington, 111:.

Jim/enter (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. EIGKEMEYER.

HAT'PELTING MACHINE.

o. 289,243. Patented Nov. 27, 1883 Wen-(507 N, PETERS. Fbmo-mhn nphln Washington DV 0.

.To all whom it mag concern.-

" Nrrnn TA-TBS PATENT rrrcn.

RUDQLF EIOKEMEYER, OFYONKERS, NEW' YORK.

HAT-FELTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming .part of .LettersPatent No. 289,243, dated November 27., 1883.

Application filed August 9,1883. (No model.)

Be itknown that I, RUDOLF EIOKEMEYER,

of Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and;useful Improvements in Hat-Felting Machines; andI do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished and forming apart thereof,is a clear,true, and complete descriptionof the several features of my invention. Myimproved machines involve, as heretofore, the use of felting-rollers arranged to afford a felting-bed, and they are specially de signed for performing preliminary felting or starting and hardening operations upon hatbodies; and the objects of my improvements are to provide for a variable pressure upon the goods, coupled with the obviation of lia- 'bility of undue and objectionable pressure and thereof also, to provide for the automatic discharge of the goods from the rolls, and in such a manner as to not obstruct the hand opacapacity for a speciallyniceadjustment erations of the attendant in preparingthe goods for felting and in placing them in the machine. To these ends one of the felting- I'olls is mounted in yielding bearings backed up by springs, andI employ the same in combination with abed-roll in fixed bearings, and

a third or back roll mounted in verticallymovable bearings cont-rolled by a treadlea In prior machines embodying three or more rolls.

one or more of them have been controlled by a treadle, not only for both charging and discharging the goods, but also for imparting pressure; and in my machine the treadle is 'employedonly for discharging, the pressure being applied independently, of the discharging-roll, and derived from light springs which properly force the front roll toward the rear or discharging roll, and therefore the attend ant cannot through the treadle, as heretofore in some machines, apply injurious pressure to the goods; and for nicely adjusting the front roll as to pressure, its springs are provided by me with means whereby their force may be ex-,

actly adapted to requirements in each case according to the character of the goods to be felted. As a rule, machines of this'class have had their discharging or treadle rolls backed up by springs, or so mounted that their weight and that of I the frames in which they are .sionally for discharging the goods.

I mounted would be borne on top of the roll or bundle of hats,- but I deem it important for thebest results thatsaid discharging-roll have no independent capacity for compression, in order that the latter may be better controlled and more finely graduated by the other rolls;

and therefore my discharging-roller, although ithas a wide range of vertical movement, 1s

strictly limited to its rotary movementwhen in its working position for felting. I have also provided a receiving-bed for the felted goods, and upon which they are automatically delivered from the machine as soonas they are permitted to leave it on depressing the treadle, and instead of discharging the roll at the front,

'as heretofore, upon a planking-bed, the point of discharge is at the rear and between the rear and bed rolls, while the discharging-point is on top between the front and rear rolls, thus enabling the attendant with a minimum loss of time to recharge the machine, and to have the usual working-plank in front. of the machine wholly unobstructed by the felted goods, and also enabling him to employ both hands continuously in preparing and putting up the goods into hat-rolls and in charging, the machine, while either foot can be used occa- By thus discharging the hat-roll at the rear I am on abled to use a narrow planlgwhicli locates the rolls much nearer the front edge of the plank, and enables the machine to be more readily worked than if the plank were Wide enough both for planking the hats or preparing the hat-rolls, and also for receiving them from the machine.

To more particularly describe my invention, I will refer to the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which- Figure 1,Sheet 1, is an end elevation of one of my machines. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is a front elevation of said machine.

The frame A is preferably composed of wood, and is provided with the requisite bearings for the moving portions of the machine, and

has a tank, 13, for hot water, and a workingplank, C, in front, as heretofore. The receiving-bed D, uponwhich thefelted goods are discharged, is located horizontally above the rear portion of the tank, and provided with a back board, D, inclined rearwardly, so that when a roll of goods leaves the rollers it falls memes upon the back board and then is directed for- I also limits the forward movement of said front ward and deposited upon the receiving-bed roll. The three rollers are rotatively driven within easy reach of the attendant standing in front of the machine, the hat-roll requiring no shifting, end for end, for unrolling and rerollmg.

The eo-operating feltingi-olls, which serve as a felting-bed, are longitudinally ribbed, as heretofore, or otherwise provided with surfaces suitable for the purposes intended. Three felting-rolls are employed by me, ar ranged so that one serves as a bed-roll and the others, respectively, as front and rear rolls, and they are in that respect like certain prior machines employed for sticking in fur, and

- in said prior "sticking-machines, one of the rolls has been mounted in movable boxes for varying the receptive capacity of the intervening space, but without affording to said roll the yielding capacity provided for by me. Other machines have heretofore embodied three rolls, arranged so that two of them serve as bed-rolls and the third as a top or compressing roll, and this latter has been mounted sometimes in a swinging frame and sometimes in a vertically-sliding frame'eonnected to a treadle for lifting it, while charging and discharging the goods through the same opening.

In some cases the hat-rolls have heretofore been discharged downwardly beneath the front roller; but in my machine the rolls are so organized that one of them is controlled by a treadle for discharging the goods at the rear and below the rolls, and the goods are introduced from above said rolls without requiring the use of said treadle. The lower or bed roll, E, is mounted in fixed bearings, and its shaft (0 serves as the driving-shaft of the machine, and is provided with loose and tight pulleys.

The rear roll, F, has its shaft in boxes which are mounted upon a pair of verticallysliding rods 6, which are connected by links Z) to the bow-shaped treadle -lever, I)", having at its front end the foot-board b. The rear roll is normally in its lowest or working position, as indicated in Fig. 1, and is elevated by the treadle for discharging the felted goods into a position indicated in said figure in dotted lines, and also shown in Fig. 2.

The front roll, G, is mounted in boxes which are movable toward and from the rear roll, and each box has attached thereto a horizontal sliding rod, 0, which at its opposite end plays through a bracket, (I, mounted on top of the frame of the machine at its front. This sliding rod 0 is encircled by an expansive spiral spring, 0, and at one end said rod is threaded, and has a disk-nut, 0", between which and the bracket (1 the spiral spring is held under a tension regulated or varied by means of the said adj usting-nut 0". The outer end of the rod 0 is also threaded, and has a stop-nut, c', by which the adjustment of the roll G with relation to the other two rolls may be varied for changing the receptive capacity of the space which is substantially inclosed by the rolls and consitutes the fulling-bed, and said stop-nut in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows. and at uniform speed, and it willbe seen that the front roll affords all the pressure upon goods within the fulling-bed, and that it can be readily pulled rearward at either end sufficiently to enable a roll of hats to be placed upon the bed-roll, and that when the rear roll is elevated by means of the treadle,thehats will be thrown out rearwardly and deposited upon the receiving-bed D.

The yielding boxes of the front roll-shaft may be variously mounted and arranged without deparature from my invention; but Iprefer to mount them upon vertical hand-levers e,which.at their lowest ends are fulcrumed upon a transverse shaft, f, said levers serving as convenient means for swinging the front roll bodily rearward,or so moving either end thereof as to sufficiently open the falling-bed for the front roll be driven by gearing on its axis through an idle gear or gears on the shaft f,

which mesh with a gear, a, on the drivingshaft a. The rear rollis preferably driven by way of an idle gear or gears on arod or shaft,

9, supported bya pair of mated links, g,which are pivoted to each other, and are also pivoted at their opposite ends upon the main shaft a and the axis h of the rear roll, the latter having a gear meshing with said idle-gear. This system of gearing is simple and effective, and enables the gears on the movable rolls to always maintain proper relations with their respective idle-gears, and the movable idle-gear to maintain its proper connection with the driving-gear a.

It is obvious that in lieu of springs for forcing the front roll forward equivalent weights, cords, and pulleys may be employed, and that the weights may be varied for adjusting the degree of pressure; but in that case astop-nut or equivalent variable abutment should be employed for limiting the forward movement of the roll and for adjustably varying the receptive capacity of the falling-bed.

Havingthus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination,in ahat-felting machine, of the yielding front roller, the bed-roller mounted in fixed boxes, and the rear rollers mounted in vertically-movable boxes and lim ited to a rotary movement when in felting service, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the bed-roll and rear roll, of the front roll mounted in movable bearings, the pressure spring or springs, and means for adjusting said springs for varying the pressure of said front roll, substantially as described. 7

3. The combination, with co-operating felting-rolls and a working-plank, of the rear roll mounted in vertically-1n ovable boxes, a treadle for lifting said rear roll and areceivingbed for the goods, substantially as described, whereby the felted goods are discharged from the rolls at the rear thereof and delivered upon said bed, as set forth.

4. The combination, with suitable feltingrolls, of the yielding pressure-roll mounted upon pivoted arms or levers, in combination with on said rods, substantially as (lescribed,where- IO by said roller may be variably adjusted with reference to the other rolls and limited as to its movement toward said rolls, as set forth.

RUDOLF EIOKEMEYER.

\Vi tnesses HENRY OsTERHELn,

the sliding rods and springs and the stop-nuts GEORGE NARR. 

